


myosotis

by Lackystars



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: F/M, Reincarnation, Reunions, Spoilers, Uhhh angst?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-17 09:49:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17558078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lackystars/pseuds/Lackystars
Summary: Once upon a fine spring afternoon, the man sleeping on the hill wakes up. He is alone, with nothing but the clothes on his back and a name on his lips."Rose," he says to himself. The word catches in his throat as if it's tangible. It's unfamiliar to him, but at the same time, it is everything he has ever known.In which Rose falls off a cliff and nearly dies, but is saved by a man with sharp teeth.





	myosotis

Once upon a fine spring afternoon, the man sleeping on the hill wakes up. He is alone, with nothing but the clothes on his back and a name on his lips.

"Rose," he says to himself. The word catches in his throat as if it's tangible. It's unfamiliar to him, but at the same time, it is everything he has ever known.

Rose, he repeats, thinking- thinking about how his mouth so naturally forms the letters, thinking how pretty it sounds. 

From the recesses of his mind, where he has long forgotten who, or what, or maybe even why he is, there's one thing he remembers. Nature. The vibrato of the summer cicadas, the first drop of dew glistening through the fog, the scent of the soil after a rainy day... 

Pink flower petals dance in the breeze, falling gently to the earth below. Some of them land on top of his hair. He pays no mind to it, and begins to walk. 

There's nothing but rolling green hills as far as the eye could see. He scans the sky above- fat fluffy white clouds. He looks without seeing, and lets the wind guide him to his destination, wherever that may be. 

He doesn't know where he's going, but, he's going  _somewhere_. 

* * *

"GAAAHHHHHH!" Rose screams. Her ankle twists the wrong way, sending her careening into the abyss below. Just as she plummets into nothingness, she can hear the shouts of her fellow colleagues, but it's too late.

Her heart is pounding with the force of a thousand drums, her stomach is turning inside out and doing somersaults, but for some reason, in amidst all of the adrenaline and anxiety and fear, a thought pierces through the chaos with almost merciless clarity. 

_I'm sorry, Dezel._

The wind is howling as she flails about, trying to reclaim some semblance of control, but her descent continues. 

_It's funny, huh? The great Rose loses her footing, falls off a cliff, and dies. What a lame way to go. If you were here, I bet you would laugh._

Rose closes her eyes tight, preparing for the end. 

_You told me to keep on keepin' on, but... I don't think I can do that anymore._

_I... I guess I'll be seeing you soon._

Suddenly, as if to comfort her in her last moments, the wind wraps the redhead into its embrace. It fills her with warmth and then it throws her into a different direction, violently protesting her defeatist thoughts. The wind whistles and she can hear  _his_ voice. 

_C'mon Rose, I thought you were stronger than that. Don't let my death be in vain. I won't let you die here._

Rose makes the mistake of opening her eyes. She screams once again, but instead of the craggy rocks she once saw, she sees assorted greenery. 

The unforgiving ground rushes up to meet her, but fortunately, trees and branches break her fall, sending her tumbling into the river below. With an unceremonious splash, the force of the impact causes searing hot spikes of pain to flare throughout her body. The wind in her is knocked out, her breath hitching. She primally coughs and wheezes to force the oxygen into her brain, demanding that she stays conscious, but all she gets for her efforts is a mouthful of water. 

Black sparks dot her vision, and everything is becoming blurry. It hurts, it fucking hurts, she's so  _tired_ , but she knows that falling asleep here will certainly spell out her death. She has to live, if not for herself, then for Dezel.

They say that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. And while memories of her life as a part of the Sparrowfeathers, as well as the Scattered Bones appear in her mind, there's something else that physically manifests right in front of her. Dezel. He's hovering just above the current, ascending slowly.

She can't help but to muster all of the strength remaining in her body and reach out for him. Her hands touch rough, calloused skin, and she holds on, trying to preserve the physicality, the  _existence_ of Dezel for as long as she can, until eventually, her body gives in and the world turns into black. 

* * *

After a while of traversing through various forests, the man notices the outline of a body washed up on the riverbank. Curiosity getting the better of him, he walks over to the fallen figure. 

It's a young woman, with striking red hair. She lays lifeless on the ground, with the faint rise and fall of her chest being the only sign that she's still alive. The man bites his lip, unsure what to make of the situation, but determination soon surges through him. For some inexplicable reason, he doesn't want to see the stranger perish- of course, the loss of life was always a tragedy- but he  _knows_ in his heart that he can't let her die here. 

The man moves without thinking. He places his hands on her chest, and compresses it with a good amount of force, continuing to repeat the action. 

Then he takes a deep breath, feeling the air expand within his chest. He pinches her nose with one hand, and with the other, pries her lips open slightly apart. He places his lips over hers- they taste like blood and river water- and exhales as forcefully as he can. He watches how her stomach rises with the air he blows into her. 

There's no reaction. 

He grits his teeth in frustration and tries again. 

He tries again and again, to the point where he feels like he's doing more harm than good. Numbness spreads throughout his body, slowly giving way to despair, but even as tears soon begin to cloud his vision, he continues to try and revive her. 

Eventually, he carries the girl in his arms and looks around desperately for something to help her. In the distance, he can make out the outline of a small village. 

He doesn't know how long it's been, but by the time he gets a response out of her, the sun is already beginning to set. 

Just as they arrive at the village, the redhead splutters ungracefully and trembles in his arms. She opens her eyes weakly (they look like sapphires) and blinks slowly. 

"De...zel..." she breathes out shallowly, and promptly falls unconscious again. 

* * *

When Rose wakes up, she's in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. Sitting in a chair beside her is a man with tanned skin. He has straight white hair with pale green tips. He's wearing a black jacket and a green shirt. His eyes are grey, or maybe they're green- she can't decide which one it is. 

Every fibre of her being is screaming,  _this is Dezel._ Her body is on fire, and she doesn't know if she's going into shock again- in fact, that might even be preferable to seeing this man. She's going insane, she hit her head too hard, because when she wakes up from the dream, there will be nothing but an empty room waiting for her. 

_This can't be Dezel. He's dead._

"What happened?" she asks. There's a tremor in her voice. She wears a calm and composed expression on her face, but the facade is bursting at the seams, ready to unravel at any moment now.

The man is quiet at first, but then he begins to speak. "I found you on the riverbank. You were unconscious. I brought you to this village where you could be treated." he answers, guarded monotony in his voice.

_He sounds just like him. Actually, Dezel sounds more bitter._

"I see... Thank you. I owe you one." she says politely, but it feels hollow. Words cannot even begin to describe the whirlwind of emotions inside her- confusion, sorrow, hope- a discordant song. 

"Not a problem."

Silence falls upon the two until it is broken by the unison of their voices. "I-" 

The man glances to the side. "You first." 

"Who  _are_ you?" Rose asks. She's almost afraid of the answer, but she  _has_ to know- to put restless spirits to ease- after all, there is no logical way Dezel is still alive. 

"I... I don't know." the man says. His voice is low, but Rose feels like he's telling the truth- or at least, the only truth he knows.

"What? That doesn't make any sense."

"Yeah. But I couldn't tell you anything else. One day, I woke up on a hill. I didn't know where I was or how I got there."

Rose cocks an eyebrow in skepticism. "You lost your memories?"

"Something like that." he replies. "The only thing I could remember was the name Rose."

"That's my name." Her heart is about to leap out of her chest. The butterflies in her stomach are turning into rocks.

The man bites his lip. "...It's a beautiful name."

Doors exist to be opened. Chances are there to be taken. "You've told me that before... Dezel." Rose murmurs, her voice shifting on the last word. 

The man is quiet for a brief moment, but for Rose, it feels like an eternity and then some more.

"What?" is all that he says.  

Rose sighs. "Nevermind. It doesn't matter."

"It clearly does," the man says. "Don't lie to me, Rose!"

He frowns, and it's strange. There's anger in his eyes.

Rose has never seen this before- Dezel's hat and bangs always covered his eyes, but now, she can see them clear as day. And she doesn't know how to feel about it. Of course, she's always known that he's capable of emotion- the love, the rage, the desire he held deep in his heart, she saw it all. But to see him express it so explicitly in those eyes of his- 

_But it's not him._

"...I don't know where that came from." the man mutters.

Rose laughs in spite of herself, and she can feel the corners of her eyes prick with tears. "This is my punishment, huh? You're angry I killed you. I don't blame you." 

The man doesn't respond.

Something inside of her snaps.

"Fuck! If only I was stronger, if only I wasn't so  _weak_ , then you... You wouldn't have had to..." The tears are flowing freely now. A broken dam.

Rose clenches her fists so tightly that her knuckles turn white. "I hate you. I hate that you used me for your disgusting revenge. I hate that you hurt me, when you swore to protect me! Why did you die? Why did you leave me all alone?!"

The man casts his gaze to the ground, his eyes clouding with uncertainty. "Rose..."

"Answer me!"

"I can't."

"I know. That's the worst thing about this. Because I will never,  _ever_ , receive the answers I so desperately want. Because Dezel is fucking  _dead_. And there's nothing I can do about it."

The room is filled with nothing but the sound of Rose's sobs. 

The man then speaks up. "Who was Dezel to you?"

"He... he was many things to me. My guardian angel. Someone who used me to enact out his revenge. The man I fell in love with."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"I'm not him."

"No, you aren't."

"Do you want me to be him?"

"You can try."

"...I guess that's all we can do, huh?"

All throughout the night, they talk. About how Rose likes her mabo curry with just the right amount of spice, about the nightmares that have plagued her, about Dezel's questionable fashion sense, about the weird names he gave his artes.

* * *

 The next day, the man is gone. But in his place is a vase, containing a cluster of blue flowers. There's a note attached to it. 

_This flower is myosotis. Also known as forget-me-not. I would have gotten you a rose, but maybe that's a bit too on the nose..._

_Don't forget me Rose. Don't forget the pain I inflicted upon you. But don't forget the good times we shared together- the winds behind our backs and the smiles wide with reckless abandon._

_Because I don't think I could ever forget you._


End file.
